Biotech Today

Secondary metabolites production using hairy root culture (HRCs) has shown immense potential for industrial applications since the last several decades. Generally, the hairy root cultures are generated through the transformation of plant parts by a gram negative soil bacterium called Agrobacterium rhizogenes. Keeping the potential of HRCs for the production of pharmaceutically important compounds, several scientists are engaged in the development of methods that could be feasible for generating high frequencies of hairy roots. HRCs have been proved an attractive choice for secondary metabolites production due to the cost reduction, higher yields and genetic stability of in vitro cultures and hairy roots could be effectively grown in bioreactors. Therefore, HRCs are being utilized for producing valuable secondary metabolites of pharmaceutical importance at commercial scales. The present review paper would describe the current status of the hairy roots developed in several plant species, their advantages, challenges and prospects briefly.